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Fact or Fiction: Do You Really Need an Annual Eye Exam? PR Newswire (press release) VSP EyeFiles featuring Bill Nye, educates Americans on eye health and debunks common myths. As part of the VSP EyeFiles initiative, VSP Vision Care sent an ... and more »  Read more...

Fact or Fiction: Do You Really Need an Annual Eye Exam? PR Newswire (press release) VSP EyeFiles featuring Bill Nye, educates Americans on eye health and debunks common myths. As part of the VSP EyeFiles initiative, VSP Vision Care sent an ... and more »

By Paul J. Gorrell and John Hoover As business coaches, we are always on the new frontier looking to help our coaching clients add value to the organizations that employ them. Working to develop a culture of coaching across organizations …  Read more...

By Paul J. Gorrell and John Hoover

As business coaches, we are always on the new frontier looking to help our coaching clients add value to the organizations that employ them. Working to develop a culture of coaching across organizations makes habit, skill, and activity correction and enhancement pre-emptive rather than reactive.

Instead of waiting until damage has been done, relationships broken, and dissention sewn far and wide, a deliberate and healthy culture of coaching helps to keep people at all levels of the organization engaged and working on habits, skills, and activities to deal with problematic issues, individually and corporately, as a way of doing business—not exceptional behavior.

Unless your organization is consciously, systematically, and strategically building and sustaining a culture of coaching, summoning an internal or external coach to contend with a dysfunctional behavior is more likely to resemble an emergency call rather than strength training. A proactive culture of coaching will focus energy and resources on accelerating performance and making good work better rather than waiting for things and people to need correction.

The most frequently-cited reasons for coaching are:

• To help deal with stress
• To develop leadership potential
• To prepare someone for promotion
• To prepare someone for succession
• To address habits, skills, and activities
• To help find assistance with personal problems
• To help people understand and better fulfill their roles
• To interpret 360-degree feedback and put it to good use
• To interpret and put to good use personality assessment

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Connecticut will save $53 million in the next year by shifting the cost of medical care for about 45,000 low-income single adults from a state program to federal Medicaid. Connecticut has become the first state in the U.S. to take advantage of federal healthcare reform laws passed in March expanding Medicaid services to low-income single adults who don't have children, the Hartford Courant reports.  Read more...

Connecticut will save $53 million in the next year by shifting the cost of medical care for about 45,000 low-income single adults from a state program to federal Medicaid. Connecticut has become the first state in the U.S. to take advantage of federal healthcare reform laws passed in March expanding Medicaid services to low-income single adults who don't have children, the Hartford Courant reports.

In most states, the passage of the sprawling federal health care overhaul legislation means the poorest will have a better shot at affording health insurance. But in Massachusetts, the law might have the opposite effect. A new report reveals that, despite the promised increase in federal funding, some Massachusetts residents might end up facing higher premiums, the Boston Globe reports.  Read more...

In most states, the passage of the sprawling federal health care overhaul legislation means the poorest will have a better shot at affording health insurance. But in Massachusetts, the law might have the opposite effect. A new report reveals that, despite the promised increase in federal funding, some Massachusetts residents might end up facing higher premiums, the Boston Globe reports.

A review of support offered to employees with a disability can be an effective tool in raising awareness and understanding of physical and mental health issues among staff, as Bangor University discovers.  Read more...

A review of support offered to employees with a disability can be an effective tool in raising awareness and understanding of physical and mental health issues among staff, as Bangor University discovers.

How can your organization overcome the most common enrollment hurdles?Studies have shown that organizations with ineffective communications have employees with a low understanding of, and appreciation for, the benefits package. In addition, health care reform changes have caused confusion and misinformation among employees. With Open Enrollment planning underway for most organizations, now is the time to consider...  Read more...

How can your organization overcome the most common enrollment hurdles?Studies have shown that organizations with ineffective communications have employees with a low understanding of, and appreciation for, the benefits package. In addition, health care reform changes have caused confusion and misinformation among employees. With Open Enrollment planning underway for most organizations, now is the time to consider...

WellPoint CFO: Feds may phase in medical-spending rule Indianapolis Business Journal Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc.'s chief financial officer said US regulators may phase in requirements on how much health insurers spend on medical care ...  Read more...

WellPoint CFO: Feds may phase in medical-spending rule Indianapolis Business Journal Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc.'s chief financial officer said US regulators may phase in requirements on how much health insurers spend on medical care ...

California's four largest health insurers will have rate hike proposals reviewed by independent actuaries to keep them in line with legal limits on profit.  Read more...

California's four largest health insurers will have rate hike proposals reviewed by independent actuaries to keep them in line with legal limits on profit.

Most health consumers define the value of drugs in terms of safety and efficacy first, then quality of life and cost second. These priorities are similarly shared by both biopharma executives and managed care management. Where consumers diverge with the two health industry stakeholders, though, is with respect to their power: while about 1 in 3 biopharma [...]  Read more...

Most health consumers define the value of drugs in terms of safety and efficacy first, then quality of life and cost second. These priorities are similarly shared by both biopharma executives and managed care management.

Where consumers diverge with the two health industry stakeholders, though, is with respect to their power: while about 1 in 3 biopharma and managed care execs believe that patients will be influential in the success or failure of new therapies over the next five years, only 11% of patients say that “people like me” will be influential over what new drugs will be available in the next 5 years. And, 59% believe they won’t be very influential.

This intriguing finding comes from a survey from Quintiles, polling biopharmaceutical stakeholders including 144 biopharmaceutical executives, 129 managed care execs, and 1,048 U.S. adults age 18+, conducted in February-March 2010.

As for biopharma’s competence at communicating “value” directly-to-end users (consumers, patients, caregivers), the industry admits to missing the boat when it comes to engaging with consumers via social media, as shown in the chart. While half of biopharma execs believe they use the Old School methods of

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